Astronauts

MB&F and Caran D’Ache teamed up to create this incredible limited-edition writing instrument, which looks like a tiny rocketship. It has retractable landing gear, and comes with a tiny magnetic astronaut and a display/storage box that looks like a launch pad.

ISS astronaut Scott Kelly demos a pair of special teflon-coated paddles which allow him to bounce a blob of water between them just like a ping pong ball. We’re guessing the slow motion movement through microgravity would make for some really long rallies.

Filmmaker Tom Kucy put together this soul-stirring short film using a mix of elements from NASA’s Apollo Archive, using a subtle technique called parallaxing to bring life to these serene scenes of space exploration. (Thanks Greg!)

Adam Savage loves to attend the San Diego Comic-Con in full costume. This year he went as a 2001: A Space Odyssey astronaut with a very special guest: retired astronaut Chris Hadfield. Skip to 9:50 for their “spacewalk.”

For the BBC’s Richard Hammond Builds a Universe, the Hamster gets the rare privilege of wearing a real pressurized NASA spacesuit, designed for the harsh conditions on Mars. He does look a bit like Buzz Lightyear in that thing.

Ever wanted to float in space like an astronaut? It turns out that it’s less like floating, and more like a free-fall in orbit around the Earth. Watch and learn in this short TedEd lesson from Matt J. Carlson, animated by Josh Harris.

Yes, we know we just posted a clip of Chris Hadfield earlier today, but we couldn’t resist posting this emotional clip sung by the Canadian astronaut on his final day on the International Space Station before returning to Earth.

Whether you’re a kid, or just a kid at heart, looking up at this satin nickel ceiling fixture will remind you of your dreams of being an astronaut. And just think, someday you really might live on Mars.